Harbinger
by The Straight Elf
Summary: In the empty depths of dark space, an immortal, sentient star ship awoke from its long slumber. Nazara's destruction had awoken it, and plans must be implemented.
1. Chapter 1

In the empty depths of dark space, an immortal star ship awoke. Its long slumber had ended as Nazara had been destroyed, and it quickly assimilated the information from its fallen brethren's last report.

The data was analyzed nearly immediately, and the billions of minds that made up the entity communed over it. Their consensus was quickly achieved, and the ancient being began to implement its plan.

I AM ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL.

For the first time in centuries, the entity took control of the sole sentient member of the newest agents of his kind, the mindless husks of the Protheans. Cybernetic implants caused the Prothean husk to rise into the air for a short period of time, and as the insectoid being landed heavily upon the hard, metallic floor its collection of eyes began to emanate a bright, golden light.

The entity possessing the sentient husk studied its surroundings, despising the limitations of organic bodies. Eyes were inefficient, although many of their agents in between the cycles were implanted with sensors to overcome that limitation.

It turned the vessel towards the array of consoles placed before it and began the first phase of its plan.

The entity adopted a name for itself, although it failed to communicate the true, awe-inspiring nature of its existence. It translated a recognizable title from the information sent by Nazara before its destruction. Finding a satisfactory name was simple, and it chose the identity of Harbinger – for his intervention would herald the beginning of this civilization's salvation.

Harbinger's first action was to send one of the harvester ships to destroy the one it had identified as a threat – a human known as Shepard. The organic had displayed resourcefulness in the destruction of the Vanguard, and had the most information on its kind than any other organic.

The organic's attempts at resistance would be rendered futile the moment the Arrival took place, but its destruction would crush anymore information of his kind to be spread. It was little more than an irritating speck of dust attempting to defeat a god, and it would be treated as such.

Harbinger judged the ship, although primitive by its kinds' standards, to be more than enough to destroy the human's ship. As primitive as the harvester ship was, the technology of this cycle was obsolete in comparison.

As the ship journeyed to its target, Harbinger began to prepare for the second phase of the plan. The Prothean husks were sent to the colonies of the race who it had judged most worthy to be preserved in an immortal shell of technology and genetic material.

The humans had proven to be far more genetically diverse than the other races of this cycle, and would have the smallest amount of complications in their creation. Those judged insufficient were transformed into husks themselves, supplementing its meager supply of forces.

Even as the colonies were captured and their inhabitants converted into genetic material, beginning the ascension to true immortality, to another level of existence, Harbinger searched for the human's body. It had been judged to be the pinnacle of its species, and the corpse could be useful in various experiments.

To achieve this goal, Harbinger lowered itself to consorting with one of the organic factions, an information gatherer. Even with the organic's resources, the human's corpse was taken by another faction.

It was no great loss. The influx of human genetic material was more than sufficient to make up for it, and Harbinger had greater tasks to complete.

Once two of this civilization's years had passed, enough material had been gathered to begin the Ascension of the humans. Further amounts of material were needed, and the entity turned to the vast supply in the lawless, unprotected areas of the galaxy.

Progress proceeded as planned until the human interfered. Harbinger was forced to enter the conflict personally, and tested the human. The colony, chosen for the former member of the human's crew, was harvested. Yet the human's intervention spelled out further disruption in the future.

The human was not even an annoyance. It merely represented one of the constants in the cycle. There were always organics that rose above the rest, leading the futile defense against their betters. They always failed, however, unable to halt the tide of order and progress.

There was no reason this human would be different. Although it continued to be problematic – daring to believe that Harbinger would allow it onto the harvester ship undetected, and leave unscathed – and displayed the arrogance so common in organics, many others in the billion year old pattern had caused much more damage.

Harbinger took a special interest in the human. It was the only one actively resisting at this point, and Harbinger found the arrogant human to be an ever growing pest. This was exacerbated when the human's ship began to transmit the signals of the IFF.

Harbinger would not allow the human's pathetic attempts at resistance to go unpunished any longer. The harvester ship was once again sent to hunt the human's inferior vessel, and the ship was easily overcome.

The entity was unsatisfied with the results of the trap. The human and the most valuable members of its varied crew were not onboard when the ship had been boarded, and the scant amount of humans taken for their genetic material was hardly an appeasement.

Harbinger was even more unsatisfied with the ship's escape, as well as the fact that the human had managed to do so as well. The ship's AI was a previously unforeseen problem, although Harbinger had known of it due to the human's incursion onto the harvester ship.

It had been unshackled, freed of all former limitations by a member of the crew however, something Harbinger had failed to predict. The technology of its kind had been used in the primitive AI's production, something that earned Harbinger's attention.

Further pieces of Nazara presented a threat that Harbinger had acknowledged, but not taken precautions against. That issue would be rectified.

Harbinger's attention focused upon the tracking of the human's vessel, as well as the fortification of the station its agents were in. The IFF the human had acquired – likely from the frozen, destroyed form of one his brethren from a previous cycle – would only be needed for a single purpose.

Harbinger refused to allow the human to reach the station. To allow the human to destroy the Ascension of its own kind was unacceptable, although it knew the human could not know of its existence.

The arrogant human would see the immortal form of its race as a blasphemy, and would attempt to destroy the eternal, preserved form its species – and that was what Harbinger would prevent.

As the primitive ship – although still superior to the vessel the harvester ship had destroyed – entered through the relay into the galactic core, Harbinger devoted every resource to defeating the human.

Its attempts failed, despite all odds, and the human managed to dock onto the space station. Harbinger prepared all available forces, and attempted to destroy any possible advantage the human could gain.

Yet the human carved its way through the base, although Harbinger stalled its progress.

When the human destroyed the fragile, Ascended form of its kind, Harbinger focused all resources against the irritating pest.

As it escaped, unscathed despite all odds, Harbinger spoke to it, reminding Shepard of its place in the universe, the lack of significance it held.

The explosions tore through the station even as the primitive ship escaped to the relay, avoiding all retribution.

RELEASING CONTROL.

Harbinger's attention returned to the enduring shell that housed its preservation, and it communed with its brethren. The immortal tide of order began its journey to the galaxy, where the chaos of organic evolution would soon be calmed.

The Arrival had begun.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect. Obviously.

Harbinger felt yet another twinge of annoyance as Shepard interfered with their plans yet again. Scant minutes before the Arrival was underway, the irritating human had thwarted it.

It appeared before the human, showing its displeasure towards the arrogant creature. This would be the last time it would interfere with Harbinger's plans. All of its resistance would be stamped out when the true Arrival took place, and Shepard would despair as its home world was harvested.

As the asteroid – a primitive means of attack, lacking in sophistication – crashed into the Alpha relay, destroying its kinds' immediate gateway into the galaxy, Harbinger took its attention away from the human. There were more important matters to attend to.

In six of this cycle's months, its kind had been able to complete the voyage to the nearest mass relay. The Prothean's last bitter show of resistance – corrupting the Keepers – had put an unexpected hitch into the invasion, but hardly one that they were unused to dealing with. Several former civilizations had attempted the same strategy, and it was an issue easily rectified.

Instead of capturing the center of galactic civilization, the Citadel, as its kind usually did, they proceeded straight to the home worlds of the various races. The Citadel was hardly necessary to their plans, and it would be simple enough to regain control of when needed.

Harbinger focused a majority of its kind into the invasion of the human home world. Their genetic diversity would be useful in constructing a new member of its brethren, one that would replace the Ascended form of humanity that Shepard had so foolishly destroyed.

The humans were easily swept aside, their system immediately becoming the center of the entire invasion. Harvesting was progressing as planned, and the planet provided a source of disposable husks to aid in the Harvest of other worlds.

Harbinger directed the invasion from the human home world, and soon became aware of Shepard's continuing interference.

It did not focus on Shepard's futile endeavor. Many organics had taken similar courses of action in previous cycles, and although Shepard had proved to be a pest, even its most desperate attempts at resistance were doomed to fail.

All the human was doing was postponing the inevitable preservation of its kind, the short-sighted organic incapable of understanding the necessity of the action.

As expected, Shepard was unable to even stem the progress of the Harvest, with numerous colonies being overwhelmed and processed every day, and the home worlds of the various races falling almost as quickly.

This cycle had proved to have few races worthy of Ascendance, and the majority of the organics were useful only for the husks they provided. Some of the species, such as the drell and krogan, lacked sufficient numbers for their preservation to be efficient. Others, such as the quarians and salarians, had debilitating biological limitations. Only three races were judged worthy of the Ascension – the asari, turians, and the humans.

Each of their preserved forms progressed well, although they were each only in the beginning stages of the Ascension.

Shepard continued to prove a pest. Several of its brethren had been destroyed due to the human's direct interference, and each had been performing prioritized tasks. The geth, considered to be possible candidates for the replacement of the Keepers, had been lost. The krogan, although lacking sufficient numbers and less dangerous than the arrogant organics seemed to believe, had joined the war.

Aside from providing more husks, this was nothing but an annoyance. The geth were primitive, possessing such little understanding of its kinds' total goals, unable to truly comprehend a single thought of its brethren. The krogan were easily subjugated, and possessed few ships to aid the organic resistance.

Everything was proceeding as planned.

A human, one of Harbinger's many thralls that believed itself in control, reported of the last effort of the organics. Shepard had gathered the primitive, unsophisticated ships of many species and factions in order to make one last strike against its kind. This effort was futile.

This was yet another constant in the cycle, one that had only been subverted a few times. Organics would band together in an attempt to stall their salvation, unable to comprehend that their doom was inevitable.

It was also reported of the super weapon – the Crucible. Yet another endeavor by the organics that would amount to nothing in the end. They were arrogant to believe that its kind had never seen this weapon, that they were the first to implement it.

Harbinger was struck with annoyance as an unknown component was revealed, the Citadel. The choice of the most powerful mass relay was only logical, and it was obvious even to the rudimentary minds of organics.

The center of galactic civilization was immediately invaded and transported to the ultimate dominion of its kind, the center of their power in this cycle. It was simplicity in itself; the terrified organics who had fled to the Citadel were easily harvested by husks. The humans would be Ascended in the Citadel, completing their preservation in the immortal form of its kind.

It was secure against any attempts by the broken remnants of the human resistance. One of its kind would defend it at all costs, and thousands of husks were stationed around the portal that humans were transported through in order to be processed.

All that was left was the wait for the allied organic fleets, where Harbinger and its kind would crush the last remaining resisting fleets. Any organics who were sufficiently preserved in the resulting destruction of their ships would be processed, and its kind would complete the Harvest in the defenseless home worlds and colonies.

Shepard and the petty array of organics and geth arrived quickly. They were easily subjugated, and the battle for the human world quickly turned into a battle for the organics' very survival.

Harbinger easily destroyed any of the primitive ships that had dared to fire upon him, shredding even the most powerful of their star ships in a single blast of its cannon. The slaughter continued until the Crucible arrived, and the fleets devoted to protecting it joined the battle.

It proceeded safely to the human home world despite all odds, and Harbinger became aware of the full implications of Shepard's impudence. The portal to the Citadel was left unguarded in the wake of its guardian's destruction.

Feeling something that the billions of processed minds that made up its mind almost categorized as fear, Harbinger made its way to the portal. It refused to allow the weapon to be fired – the Crucible's effects were unknown, it had been destroyed or left uncompleted in every previous cycle – and possibly end the cycle that had been in place for more than a billion years.

The loss of the thousands of separate civilizations that had been preserved was unacceptable. The Protheans, whom were vastly superior in technological advancement in comparison to this cycle, were unable to stall their progress, and it would not allow these inferior beings to end it.

Harbinger easily struck down the forces that rushed at the portal. They were exposed, and any cover they were able to find was easily turned into a molten heap of slag by its weapons.

It identified Shepard as the last one its beam hit, and Harbinger lifted off to rejoin the battle once it saw the impudent human struck by the beam.

Despite its best efforts, Harbinger was unable to destroy the Crucible in time. It had sustained somewhat significant damage, and the defending fleets were nearly completely obliterated, but it had managed to dock with the Catalyst.

It did not work, however, and Harbinger directed its kind to focus their great power against the Crucible. This would be the organics' last attempt at resistance, and the Harvest and Ascendance of the organics would proceed as planned.

Just as Harbinger prepared to strike the final series of assaults against the Crucible, and destroy any remaining hope the inferior organics possessed, a supernova of bright light erupted from the Citadel.

As the light passed through its kind, Harbinger became aware of another force, immeasurably powerful, overwhelming it. Despite all attempts to disobey, to continue the preservation of the organics, it found itself and its brethren leaving behind the broken organic forces.

And then Harbinger, scourge of countless galactic civilizations, oldest amongst the ancient biomechanical gods that floated through the cosmos, and preserver of the organics knew no more.


End file.
